POSTED AT 10:05 AM 19-12-2018

Mumbai hospital blaze: 8 dead

A victim is rushed to safety after a fire broke out at the five-storey government-run ESIC Kamgar Hospital in Andheri, Mumbai.

INDIA: The overnight toll in a Mumbai government hospital blaze rose to eight with two more victims succumbing to their injuries, said a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Disaster Control official here on Tuesday.

Of the 176 rescued injured, at least another 25 admitted to various hospitals remain critical from the devastating fire broke out in the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital in MIDC, Andheri East on Monday evening.

While 142 continue their treatment in over half a dozen public and private hospitals, 26 have been discharged so far, said the official.

Of the eight fatalities, a majority died due to suffocation, and at least one panicked and jumped from the third floor to his death.

The death toll in Mumbai’s hospital fire shot up to eight, while another 147, mostly patients and staff, were rescued from a massive blaze that engulfed the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital in Andheri (East) here on Monday, BMC Disaster Control said.

The number of fatalities is likely to increase further as several injured persons have been admitted to various hospitals in serious condition even as the firemen battled the conflagration to bring it under control after three hours.

The fire, caused by a suspected short-circuit, was first noticed in the upper floors of the five-storeyed building with a glass facade in the MIDC area — the industrial hub in the north-western suburb — around 4.15 pm.

At least 12 fire tenders, 15 water tankers and other specialised equipment were rushed to battle the blaze and those trapped were taken out via ladders from the third and fourth floors as the flames quickly spread horizontally and vertically.